The NH State Council on the Arts has been funding Master and Apprentice Traditional Arts teams since 1995, providing support for over 35 art forms. The grant helps to support a master traditional artist and an experienced apprentice in one-to one sessions for a six to ten month period.The teaching and learning usually take place in homes- around a kitchen table, in a garage or workshop. Their work is rooted in the community and the success of these grants is based on trust and respect.
At the conclusion of a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship, State Arts Council staff visit many of the grantees to conduct audio interviews and take photographs in order to document the project, provide an archive for those interested in state culture and history, and to share with the wider public (Graton, 8).
On September 29, 2013 Julianne Morse interviewed master guqin player (pronounced goo-chin) Shin-Yi Yang and her apprentice, Adam Kale. The guqin is a seven stringed zither, and is one of the oldest Chinese instruments dating to over 3000 years ago. In 2003 UNESCO designated the guqin as as a piece of Oral and Intangible Hertiage of Humanity. In the video below you can listen to both Shin-Yi and Adam talk about how they came to learn the instrument, its importance to both Chinese culture and heritage, and how it is informing the cultural landscape of New England.
interview with Shin-Yi Yang & Adam Kale from Julianne Morse on Vimeo.
Graton, Lynn (Ed.). (2012). Shaping Our Heritage. Concord, NH: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Print.
